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ByAndrewBaggarly BayAreaNewsGroup MESA,ARIZ. Alittlemorethan four months and 1,200 miles removed from Game 7 of the World Series, San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bo- chy finally ambled out to take the baseball from Madison Bumgarner. He remembered how to get to the mound and everything. Bumgarner's exhibition de- but Tuesday against the Oak- land A's at HoHoKam Stadium wasn't a smooth continuation from his dominant perfor- mance last October against the Kansas City Royals. He was charged with four runs in 1 2⁄3 innings and allowed hits to five of 10 batters he faced. "He took that in stride," said Bochy, after the 9-4 loss. "A younger Bum would've been upset. He's matured in that part of his game so well the last year. He really has. He knows his job is to get ready." And besides, Bochy added, "He didn't get cut today. He'll make the club." Marcus Semien hit a two- run homer as the A's hit for the cycle in a three-run first inning. "Right now I'm not worried whether I strike out everybody or give up three or four runs or whatever it was," said Bumgar- ner, who received a noticeably loud ovation when he took the mound. "It's about getting your body back in the rhythm of competing and throwing pitches and getting back in the swing of things." Bumgarner was scheduled to throw just one inning in the Cactus League opener for both clubs. But he called an audible and took the mound in the sec- ond inning, both to fill out his SPRING TRAINING Bumgarnerhasrough outinginlosstoA's Oaklandhitsforthecycleinthree-runfirstinningagainstSanFrancisco PHOTOSBYDARRONCUMMINGS—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS The San Francisco Giants' Madison Bumgarner (40) warms up before the start of the bottom of the second inning during a spring training game against the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday. Oakland's Ben Zobrist (le ) slides into third a er hitting a triple as San Francisco's Casey McGehee waits for the throw. By Jeffrey Bernstein The Associated Press NEW YORK All-Star DeMarcus Cousins was welcomed back to the lineup by coach George Karl and the rest of the Kings. The Knicks were not as ex- cited. Cousins, the Kings' first All- Star since 2004, scored 22 points, including 11-for-11 from the foul line, and pulled down a game- high 10 rebounds as Sacramento handed New York its worst loss of the season, 124-86, on Tues- day night. He had missed the last two games, both Kings' losses, be- cause of a left ankle sprain and left hip bruise. "Without 'Cuz' we haven't been able to do a lot of them in the last two games, but I thought his passing was big time," Karl said. "Cuz did a good job of or- chestrating the first unit and An- dre (Miller) did a good job of or- chestrating the bench. There is a lot of confidence out there be- cause of their passing." Rudy Gay scored 25 points and NBA KingshandKnicksworstlossofseason Cousins returns to Sacramento lineup with 22 points, 10 rebounds while Gay has 25 points FRANK FRANKLIN II — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Sacramento Kings' DeMarcus Cousins (le ) passes the ball away from the New York Knicks' Cole Aldrich during the second half Tuesday in New York. KINGS124,KNICKS86 Up next: Sacramento Kings at San Antonio Spurs, 5:30p.m. Wednesday, TV on CSN-CA. THESCORE Israeli Prime Minister Benja- min Netanyahu told Congress on Tuesday that negotiations under way between Iran and the United States would "all but guarantee" that Tehran gets nuclear weapons. SPEECH TO CONGRESS Netanyahoassails Iran nuclear talks FULL STORY ON PAGE B6 Mercy High School is holding a monthlong 30Thirty Scholar- ship Challenge, which kicked off this week with a rally on campus. Students will be asking for help funding the school's scholarship program. MERCY HIGH High school kicks off scholarship fundraiser FULL STORY ON PAGE B5 By Janie McCauley The Associated Press SANFRANCISCO Australianrugby star Jarryd Hayne has agreed to a contract with the San Francisco 49ers, a person with knowledge of the deal said Tuesday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because a formal announce- ment is not planned until Hayne signs. He is expected to receive $100,000 guaranteed. Hayne is giving up his career in the Australian National Rugby League to pursue an NFL job across the world. He likely will compete for a job as a running back and return man on special teams. The 27-year-old Hayne, who is 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, held a news conference in Sydney to an- nounce he would join the 49ers. San Francisco is beginning to build a roster for new coach Jim Tomsula, who replaced the de- parted Jim Harbaugh in mid-Jan- uary after the Niners (8-8) missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2010 season and following NFL Rugby star agrees to deal, signs with 49ers AP source says Australian will man special teams RICK RYCROFT — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Jarryd Hayne, an Australian rugby star, smiles as he announces his free agent contract with the San Francisco 49ers at a press conference Tuesday in Sydney. By Tom Withers The Associated Press GOODYEAR, ARIZ. With large, glowing red numbers, the timer on the center-field wall at Good- year Ballpark ticked down Tues- day, counting off seconds and ush- ering in change. Baseball, the timeless game of endless summers, went on the clock. Major League Baseball intro- duced its new pace of play ini- tiatives during five exhibition games in Arizona and Florida. As expected, there were a few minor glitches as players, man- agers, umpires and fans adjusted to the "rules" designed to make games shorter, more appealing to TV viewers and perhaps lure the next generation of fans to a sport fighting for attention. On this opening day, baseball had a slightly different look. "I've never worked a game in the history of baseball that has a countdown clock," said um- pire Dan Iassogna, who kept an eye on second base as the Pitts- burgh Pirates and Toronto Blue Jays played in Dunedin, Florida. "That was a little different." Under the pace of play provi- sions, hitters are required to keep BASEBALL Play ball! Quickly! MLB speeds game this spring The Corning Cardinals baseball team (1-0) travels to Enter- prise today for a 3p.m. game. Corning golf hosts Lassen at Sevillano Links at noon. SPRING SPORTS Corning baseball team at Enterprise today The seventh-seeded Corn- ing Cardinals boys basketball team travels to No. 3Lassen 7 p.m. tonight for a Division-IV semifinal game. Lassen won the season series 2-1, but Corning won the last game. DIVISION 4 BOYS HOOPS Corning heads to Lassen for semifinal HAYNE PAGE 2 MLB PAGE 2 GIANTS PAGE 2 KINGS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, March 4, 2015 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1